Love Run Cold
by TitansRule
Summary: For Danny's sake, Jess tries to work out just what's going on with Lindsay. Includes a moping Danny and a shirtless Don Flack ... Story #4 in 'Kindred Spirits'.


**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY.  
********Series: 'Kindred Spirits' – check my profile for the others.  
****Spoilers: **_**Love Run Cold.**_

* * *

Love Run Cold

If she was going to be honest with herself, Jess preferred dealing with the CSIs than her fellow homicide detectives, with the exception of a few individuals.

The crime lab as a whole was a much tighter group and she had realised quickly that Don was part of that family. Never in a million years had she expected them to 'adopt' her too.

Danny's assertion that they would deal with Thacker if he kept giving her a problem cemented her place in that family.

She was a little sister again, but this time she didn't mind so much.

So when she left Mac and Stella's office having dropped off some paperwork, and saw Danny standing by a window looking lost, she didn't hesitate to head in his direction.

"Hey."

Danny glanced up. "Angell! Thank God. You're a woman, right?"

"Thanks for noticing." Jess responded dryly.

Danny waved a hand. "That's not what I meant and you know it. Okay. What does it mean when a woman says 'it's not you, but I need to be by myself to work some stuff out'?"

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Generally that it's not you but she needs to be by herself to work some stuff out." She leaned against the wall next to him. "Is this Lindsay we're talking about?"

"Jeez, Messer, what happened to you?" Don asked, approaching them.

"Lindsay." Jess answered, when Danny just groaned. "That's all I've got."

Don sighed. "Alright. Normally, I'd take him to Sully's so he could get over it, but I think we'll need a woman's intuition. Care to join us, Detective?"

"Sure." Jess smiled. "I just need to grab my stuff from the locker room and …" She pulled a face, suddenly noticing the foul odour emanating from her co-worker's shirt. "My God, Flack, what happened?!"

"Oh." Don glared down at his shirt as though it were creating the stench on its own. "Some drunk kid threw up on me as they were dragging him through the precinct."

Both of them looked at Danny, waiting for the punch line, but the CSI didn't react.

"Alright." Jess muttered. "I'll take it." She cleared her throat. "And you thought that, since you had puke all over you, you'd come here and share it with the rest of us?"

Don rolled his eyes. "When Gerard tells you to get something to the lab, you don't wait around to change your shirt." He clapped Danny on the back. "So, Danno, meet us at Sully's in 30, alright?"

Danny nodded morosely. "A'right."

**

* * *

Five minutes later …**

"Remind me again why I let you talk me into riding with you?" Jess asked, opening her locker.

"You had no other way of getting back to the precinct." Don complied.

"Thacker was at the lab." Jess reminded him.

"Oh, like you'd take him over me." Don sniggered.

"Smelling like that?" Jess smirked. "Every time."

"And here I thought what we had was special." Don retorted.

Jess laughed, closing her locker again to find that he was half-way through changing his shirt. With his gaze averted, she took the opportunity to covertly admire the sight of him shirtless, something she hadn't seen since his time in the hospital; whatever he did in the precinct gym was definitely worth it. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that shoving him against the lockers and kissing him would _not_ be professional.

As his clean shirt slid down, again concealing his bare skin from her view, she pretended to be looking through her bag for something, hearing his locker door close and feeling his eyes fall on her.

"Ready?"

Jess glanced up. "Yeah."

* * *

"I just don't get it." Danny repeated.

Don rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you said."

"I'm just glad you've limited how much he's drinking." Jess muttered back. "Or this would be a lot harder." She patted Danny's hand. "Alright, Messer. Now tell me what Lindsay said."

"She said …" Danny sighed. "She said that she liked me a lot, but she couldn't be in a relationship right now and that she had to be by herself to work some stuff out that she thought she had put behind her."

"I'm lost." Don stated.

Jess sighed. "Isn't it obvious? Something happened back in Montana."

"What?" Danny asked.

"I'm not a mind-reader." Jess told him. "Maybe a bad relationship or something. She doesn't want that to get in the middle of his relationship with you, so she's stepping back until she can work it out."

Danny shook his head. "I will never understand women. So what do I do?"

"Nothing." Jess insisted. "You told her you're there if she needs something?"

"Yeah."

"Then you do nothing and wait for _her_ to come to _you_." Jess insisted. "Don't push her on this, Danny."

Danny sighed. "Alright, alright. I hear you." He finished his beer. "I'd better get home. I got an early shift."

"Suit yourself." Don shrugged as the CSI tossed some bills on the table. "You stickin' around, Angell, or am I drinking alone?"

Jess grinned. "You're pouting, Don."

"I'm not pouting." He protested.

"Yeah, you are, Flack." Danny told him. "See ya, Angell."

Jess waved a hand in acknowledgement, still smirking at her colleague. "Well, I guess I could stay a bit longer, seeing as you're so opposed to drinking alone."

"You hate it as well." Don reminded her.

"True." Jess agreed.

"So what do you really think happened in Montana?" Don asked.

"I don't know." Jess reiterated. "And it's none of our business. If Lindsay wants to tell us, she will."

Don nodded absently. "So how was your case?"

"Woman poisoned a marathon runner because he was responsible for a car accident that left her brother paralysed." Jess summarised. "Yours?"

"Man stabbed his girlfriend with an ice-sceptre filled with vodka because she'd dumped him after he got back from telling his parents they were getting married." Don responded. "Not sure which one of us got the worse case. Location?"

"Central Park …"

"I had to spend two hours interviewing witnesses in an icy cold bar." Don smirked. "I win."

Jess sniggered. "Next round's on me then."

**

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AN: Right, I don't **_**think**_** Jess was the detective on the marathon case, but I don't think they had any of the others either, so for the sake of argument, she was. Also, as much of a DL fan as I am, was I the only one who thought their conversation in that corridor was the most awkward thing ever? I would've been sooo tempted to giggle if I was them. But maybe that's just me.**

**And, in the interests of shameless self-plugging, I've posted a new story called 'A Last Request', in case you haven't seen it; it's set after 'The Fall' in Season 1, brings Angell in early, brings in Lindsay, but keeps Aiden, putting Pratt where he belongs. Please read and review both!**


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